‘Push back the hate, mate’: Australia fights antisemitism

New anti-doxing laws planned; Sydney rally against antisemitism; property development altered due to fears of synagogue attack.

Doxers could face jail times under proposed new federal laws prompted by the doxing of 600 Jewish creatives in a WhatsApp group.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told radio 2GB last week that Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is developing amendments to privacy laws and also looking at how to strengthen laws against hate speech.

“I’ve asked the attorney general to bring forward legislation in response to the Privacy Act review, including laws that deal with so-called doxing, which is basically the malicious publication of private information online,” Albanese said.

He said the doxing was clearly a case of people being targeted because of their religion.

“Let’s be very clear, these are 600 people in the creative industries… who had a WhatsApp group, not heavily political, to provide support for each other because of the antisemitism we’ve seen.

“These people have a range of views about the Middle East. What they have in common is they are members of the Jewish community. The idea that in Australia someone should be targeted because of their religion, because of their faith, whether they be Jewish, or Muslim, or Hindu or Catholic – it’s just completely unacceptable,” he said.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Dreyfus said the offence would be drafted “to capture any publication for malicious purposes of someone’s private or personal information without their consent”. He acknowledged that the legal system was "racing" to catch up with the bad conduct made possible by digital technology.

“We think these are serious offences, and should potentially carry a jail sentence,” he said. “If the perpetrator has intended to interfere with someone’s life and has achieved that purpose, such as the person going into hiding, then that’s something that the court would be likely to take into account in determining penalty.”